


Keeping Up Appearances

by ZombieBabs



Series: The Demon Within (Is A Total Bro) [1]
Category: The Black Tapes Podcast
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Demonic Possession, Gen, Humor, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 05:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5614816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieBabs/pseuds/ZombieBabs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard Strand has been possessed by a demon nearly his entire life. </p>
<p>The only thing he and the demon can agree on?</p>
<p>Alex Reagan.</p>
<p>*Edited 7.21.17</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keeping Up Appearances

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, the fic spawned from the birth of Demonbro!Strand on Tumblr.

As an entity thousands of years old, the demon has _never_ been more embarrassed of his vessel.

Possession was supposed to be fun. But here he is, stuck with this lame-ass human who would legitimately rather be reading ancient texts than going out.

_I can hear you_ , says a voice he’s come to be very familiar with. It’s buried deep underneath the demon’s presence, but the demon has never quite been able to drown it out. 

Of all of the humans he's possessed over the last millennia, this one has got to be the most stubborn.

Pride swells within Strand.

The demon rolls his eyes. “Bro, it wasn’t a compliment.”

The phone in his hand vibrates, interrupting what would no doubt be another fight between them. The demon looks at the screen and grins when he sees the name.

Alex Reagan is texting him.

He swipes at the screen and inputs his password. His eyes skim the text, taking in the information faster than a regular human could manage.

“Sweet! She wants to meet us for coffee.” He spins around in the expensive executive task chair, coming to rest with his feet up on the clean, modern lines of the glass and steel desk.

Strand’s inner voice grumbles about the treatment of his things, but the demon ignores him. They are all, in part, his things, as well. Technically, he was the one to buy them. That makes them at least 60% the demon’s possessions.

He laughs. “Get it? Possession?”

If Strand had control of his own eyes, he would be rolling them. Thank goodness for small victories on the demon's part.

“Anyway, dude," he says, "forget about the furniture. Alex wants to meet us for coffee. I mean, she probably just wants to discuss the Tapes or something, but come on. When's the last time we went out with someone as cute as her?”

Strand stays stubbornly quiet. The demon knows him well enough by now to know he’s trying not to think about Coralee. A twinge of guilt and a wash of mourning not his own gives Strand away.

“You need to move on," the demon says. "And possibly get laid. How many times have I told you?”

Still no answer.

“Fine, be that way. But I know you like Alex. Our heart rate skyrockets whenever she walks into the room. That’s not on me, buddy. I don’t even have a heartbeat.”

It takes the demon an embarrassingly long time to type out the answering text. It has to be perfect. He can’t seem too eager, but he also doesn’t want to seem like he couldn’t give a shit. He also has to channel Strand’s boring persona, so she doesn’t get suspicious of his true identity.

He types out a few words. He stares at them unhappily.

He deletes them, finger jabbing at the screen with deliberate force.

“This would be so much easier if you weren’t so opposed to using emoji. I could send a check-mark and just be done with it.”

Disgust from Strand. _No. Never. Not in my life._

The demon shrugs. “Suit yourself.”

In the end, he ends up with something plain and boring and oh-so Strand-like. _Certainly_

A few seconds later, Alex responds. 

_Awesome!_ she writes. _See you at 3. Same place as usual._

“Well, you may be boring, but at least she doesn’t seem to mind. It’s already 1:30, we should get ready.”

Getting ready has always been a point of contention between Strand and the demon. Strand prefers stuffy suits, expensive colognes, and slicked back hair. The demon would rather put on a polo, throw on a pair of shorts, slide his feet into a pair of flip flops, and be done with it. That it's the middle of winter in Seattle doesn’t much bother him. But Strand, the stubborn bastard, always reminds him how weird other humans might think they look, and he relents.

“Next spring break we are going to Miami and then we’ll see who sticks out like a sore thumb,” he threatens. It’s mostly an empty threat. But Strand doesn’t know that.

Like always, they end up compromising. Since it’s technically their day off, he convinces Strand that wearing an expensive pair of name brand jeans and a nice button-front shirt would be completely appropriate for a Saturday coffee date.

Strand’s body flushes warm at the mention of the term _date_.

The demon rolls his eyes. “Will you calm down? You’re so embarrassing. Sometimes I don’t know why I possessed you in the first place.”

An image of a dark haired boy playing with a Demon Board pops into his mind.

“Okay, yeah, as a kid playing alone with my Board, you were an easy target. Sorry not sorry.”

Strand gets quiet. The demon tries not to feel guilty about it. “Look, how many times do I have to say it? Not my fault your parents were terrible at supervision. And that they never noticed you might be, oh, I don’t know, possessed.”

This is another argument which consistently ends in a stalemate. The demon changes gears. They’re going to coffee with Alex. No reason to be upset here.

He checks his pockets. He’s got keys, wallet, and phone. He does one last look in the mirror. He runs his hands through Strand’s hair until it looks nice, but not like he put in a lot of effort.

Strand groans and reminds him of the time.

“You’re right. _You_ wouldn’t be caught dead arriving even so much as five minutes late. It’s show time.”

On his way out the door, he pastes on Strand’s signature wry smile.

One day, they’ll tell Alex about Strand’s literal demons. Until then, this demon will just have to keep up appearances.

**Author's Note:**

> *Edited: 7.21.17


End file.
